CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye.PHOTO/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya May 11- The Council of East and Central African Football (CECAFA) has announced that the second edition of the Nile Basin tournament has been moved from May to September upon request from members.
Speaking to Capital Sport, CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye says hosts Sudan will make a decision on the final dates.
“Most members said the month of May was too tricky for them because of the congestion of fixtures. About eight of them said it will be difficult for them. We unanimously decided September would be a good month and we will leave it with Sudan to give us the final date,” Musonye underscored.
The Nile Basin tournament involves teams which finished second in their domestic leagues and it is being held for the second time.
The inaugural edition was held in 2014 with Kenya being represented by AFC Leopards who went all the way to the final only to lose to Ugandan side Victoria University.
Ulinzi Stars, who finished season behind record 15-time champions Gor Mahia last year, will represent Kenya in this year’s competition.
The military side now find themselves with a packed calendar as they will be playing in the East Africa Military Games in Kigali, Rwanda in August.
At the same time, the CECAFA Kagame Cup has been moved from the island of Zanzibar to Tanzania mainland.
“Zanzibar has issues with their local Federation and we have left them to sort it out. We have shifted the tournament to Tanzania and it will be played from June 16th to July 3rd. A total of 13 teams have confirmed participation and we will decide if we will get an additional invitational team,” Musonye added.
CECAFA has plans in place for the return of the Under-17 tournament as well as the inaugural women tournament, both being held in Uganda in December and August respectively.
